The Weather god of Nerik is a
Hittite weather god
A weather god or goddess, also frequently known as a storm god or goddess, is a deity in mythology associated with weather phenomena such as thunder, snow, lightning, rain, wind, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Should they only be in cha ...
, who was mainly worshipped in the Hittite city of
Nerik, whose cult was relocated to Kaštama and Takupša for two hundred years after the Hittites lost Nerik to the
Kaskians
The Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabalian Kasku and Gasga,) were a loosely affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European tribal people, who spoke the unclassified Kaskian language and lived in mountainous East Pontic Anatolia, known from Hittite sourc ...
. He was also referred to as Nerak or Nerikkil.
In ancient Anatolia, weather gods were the rulers of the sky and the mountains. They cast down thunder, lightning, clouds, rain and storms.
[Volkert Haas, Heidemarie Koch: ''Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran''. Göttingen 2011, p. 228.] The weather god of Nerik was also worshipped as a sender of rain, and as a fertility deity.
In the official Hittite state pantheon, the Weather god of Nerik was considered the son of the
Weather god of Ḫatti and the
Sun goddess of Arinna. However, at his cult centre in Nerik he was instead considered to be the son of the
Hattian god and the
Sun goddess of the Earth.
The partner of the Weather god of Nerik was the goddess , the Lady of the Palace. During droughts, the winter and after the harvest, it was said that the Weather god of Nerik was asleep in Tešimi's lap. In Nerik, Tešimi was also considered to be the partner of the god
Telipinu
Telipinu was the last king of the Hittites Old Kingdom, living in 16th century BC, reigned c. 1525-1500 BC in middle chronology. At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite Empire had contracted to its core territories, having long since lost all ...
.
After the return of the Weather god of Nerik from the exile in Kaštama, his statue was worshipped in his temple in Nerik, along with the image of the goddess , the city goddess of Kaštama. This does not necessarily mean that they were considered to be a couple since the Weather god of Nerik was already partnered with the goddess Tešimi and Zašḫapuna also had a partner already, the mountain god .
[Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia.'' Wiesbaden 2009, p. 104.]
References
Bibliography
*
Volkert Haas Volkert may refer to:
People
* Edward Charles Volkert (1871–1935), American painter
* Georg Volkert (1945–2020), German footballer
* Stephan Volkert (born 1971), German rower
* Volkert Doeksen (born 1963), Dutch money manager
* Volkert van der ...
,
Heidemarie Koch
Heidemarie Koch (17 December 1943 – 28 January 2022) was a German Iranologist.
Life and career
Koch was born in Merseburg, Saxony, Prussia, Germany. She studied mathematics as her major between 1963 and 1966. Subsequently, she worked as a tea ...
: ''Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran.'' Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, .
*
Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia.'' Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, {{ISBN, 978-3-447-05885-8.
Hittite deities
Hattian deities
Sky and weather gods
Agricultural gods